Last To Know

11

Maddox closed the door and jogged around to climb in on the other side. Ezra was driving, obviously, and Mathias joined him in the front.

"What kind of car is this?" I asked—once again showing my lack of knowledge when it came to cars.

"A GMC Yukon," Ezra answered, glancing at me in the rearview mirror as the garage door rolled up.

Ezra reached over and turned on the radio. The volume was blasting and he hastily turned it down to a decibel that wasn't deafening.

I didn't recognize the song, but I did recognize the name of the band flashing on the fancy touch screen display.

"Hey, this is Willow Creek," I commented. "They're from here. I've never heard any of their music before."

Maddox coughed beside me, and when I turned to look at him he was glaring at Ezra.

Mathias huffed and reached for the dial. "No one wants to listen to this garbage."

Ezra didn't reply, he was still looking at Maddox—with the car idling in the garage. I didn't understand the silent battle that seemed to be taking place between the two. I wished now I hadn't said anything.

The drive to the bowling alley was distressingly silent.

The silence made me nervous, because I felt like I'd done something wrong.

I was glad when Ezra parked the car and I could leave the tension behind—hopefully.

I walked ahead of the guys and straight into the building.

They came in and I looked over my shoulder, gaping at them. Ezra now wore a baseball cap that pushed down his curls and Mathias was wearing a beanie similar to Maddox's but his was gray. What was up with the hats?

We grabbed our shoes from the lady working at the front and Ezra pointed to one side of the alley. "Hayes is supposed to be over here."

We followed him into to the darkened room. The chairs and tables glowed purple and green so you could see where you were going and some kind of country song blared from the speakers.

A tall guy waved to us from the last alley.

"Someone remind me, why the fuck are we bowling again?" Mathias grumbled, but Hayes heard him.

"Because bowling is great and I really wanted a hotdog," Hayes smiled.

I reared my head back, taking in his monstrous height. The guy was a giant—probably six foot five. Sandy blond hair fell into his blue eyes and a light dusting of stubble dotted his jaw. He was handsome in an all-American sort of way.

"Hi," he smiled at me, and Maddox's hand fell possessively on my waist. "I'm Hayes, and you are?"

"Emma," I smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Emma." My name rolled off his tongue like it was an exotic wine. Maddox growled at my side and Hayes chuckled. "I'm not hitting on your girl, so calm down."

Maddox's hand fell away and he grumbled, "I knew that."

I didn't bother correcting Hayes on the fact that I wasn't Maddox's girl, because it kinda felt like I was.

Mathias sat at one of the chairs with his legs kicked up on the table while Ezra entered our names into the computer. "Are we going to play or have a pissing contest, boys?"

Hayes smiled, shaking his head. "Welcome to the family," he shrugged in a what-are-you-going-to-do kind of way.

It took us a few minutes to get everything set up.